How does the current number plate system work?

Before 2001, registration plates were released once a year. Since then, new registration plates are issued twice a year – in March and September.

Your car’s registration plate can give away its age and the area where it was registered. A country identifier is also present.

Here’s an example of a current number plate:

The age identifier changes on 1 March and 1 September every year and with it you can work out how old the car is:

Year

Registrations from 1 March to end of August

Registrations from 1 September to end of February

2001/02

51

2002/03

02

52

2003/04

03

53

2004/05

04

54

2005/06

05

55

2006/07

06

56

2007/08

07

57

2008/09

08

58

2009/10

09

59

2010/11

10

60

2011/12

11

61

2012/13

12

62

2013/14

13

63

2014/15

14

64

2015/16

15

65

2016/17

16

66

2017/18

17

67

2018/19

18

68

2019/20

19

69

2020/21

20

70

2021/22

21

71

The easiest way to remember the above is that the March registration number equals the year – 2017 will be ‘17’. The September registrations is the year plus 50, so 2017 will be ‘67’.

National flags can be displayed under rules introduced in 2009, with each being accompanied by their identifier. The permitted country flags are:

Union Flag

Cross of St George

Cross of St Andrew / The Saltire

Y Ddraig Gogh / Red Dragon of Wales

The EU symbol is optional. But if you decide not to have it, you’ll need to display the well-known oval GB sticker when driving within the European Union.

These are the official country identifiers:

GREAT BRITAIN, Great Britain or GB

UNITED KINGDOM, United Kingdom or the UK

CYMRU, Cymru, CYM or Cym

ENGLAND, England, ENG, Eng

SCOTLAND, Scotland, SCO or Sco

WALES or Wales

How do older systems work?

Number plate systems before 2001 were completely different. Cars registered between 1983-2001 used a prefix format, and those registered between 1962-1982 used a suffix format.

The prefix system – cars registered 1983-2001

These plates consist of a letter showing the age identifier, random numbers and an area code:

The suffix system – cars registered 1963-1982

The main difference to the other systems is that the age identifier is at the end of the plate, rather than at the beginning:

Here’s how you can work out the age of a car registered with the suffix and prefix systems:

Age identifier

Suffix system

Prefix system

A

1963

1983

B

1964

1984

C

1965

1985

D

1966

1986

E

1967

1987

F

1967

1988

G

1968

1989

H

1969

1990

J

1970

1991

K

1971

1992

L

1972

1993

M

1973

1994

N

1974

1995

P

1975

1996

R

1976

1997

S

1977

1998

T

1978

1999

V

1979

1999

W

1980

2000

X

1981

2000

Y

1982

2001

When is the best time to buy a car?

As new number plates come in in March and September, that’s when many used cars come on the market. People trade up to the new-registration vehicles in those months, and you’re more likely to find a good deal.

You can also consider buying a pre-registered car, which is essentially a new car, but self-registered by the dealership.

During these two months, dealerships have a lot of stock to shift. So, in order to hit their sales targets, some sell new cars to themselves and then put it back on sale with a significant discount.

This system doesn’t apply to personalised plates as they’re an exception to the rules.

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